Ex-Mixed Martial Arts Champ Sentenced for Police Chase
Former mixed martial arts champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has been ordered to complete community service for leading Costa Mesa police on a chase in which he rammed three cars.

Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City selects new leader
The Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City announced Thursday that Harlan Brownlee, executive director of Kansas City Young Audiences, has been selected to lead the Arts Council.

New director wants to revive Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
Patty Ortiz wants to make the community proud of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center again.

Melissa Manchester opens Burnsville Performing Arts Center
Light-rock star Melissa Manchester will perform at the inaugural gala for the new Burnsville Performing Arts Center Jan. 31. Tickets are $100 to $25 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday through Ticketmaster. The venue will also host a production of 'Cabaret' Feb. 13 through March 8. The $15 tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. today.

Arts council oversees jazz bids
The Arts Council of Wales is overseeing plans to rescue Brecon jazz festival, it emerges.

Reopened theater stages comeback for New Orleans arts
Closed for more than three years, the 2,100-seat Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts is scheduled to reopen Thursday in what city leaders call a symbolic step forward in the city's recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

Divine Performing Arts 2009 World Tour
More than 100 performers will take the stage at the Eisemann Center in Richardson in a collaboration of dancers, musicians and choreographers from around the world for the performances of the Divine Performing Arts on Feb. 2-4.

Demand for New Generation courses surges ? and Arts tops the pops!
The University of Melbourne?s Bachelor of Arts - a cornerstone of the University?s Melbourne Model - is by far the most popular course in Victoria and probably Australia, according to the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Committee?s December ?Pop Polls? data.

Plans stall for arts center on Acoma
Englewood Cultural Arts Center Association let the city community development department know that the organization no longer will pursue plans to build an arts and education center on the land in the 3400 block of South Acoma Street.

UM campus hosts Beaux Arts Festival this weekend
The 58th annual Holtz Children's Hospital Beaux Arts Festival of Art will take place Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the grounds of the University of Miami campus.

Arts center starts the year off with suitcases exhibit
The Ludington Area Arts Center holds its debut event for the year, and first exhibit, starting Friday. The Lives they Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital opens Friday.

Mixed martial arts: Ex-UFC champ pleads guilty to police chase
SANTA ANA, Calif. ? Former mixed martial arts light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has been ordered to complete community service and attend therapy for leading Costa Mesa police on a chase in which he rammed three cars.

Grand Junction Arts Center goes solar
GRAND JUNCTION -- Sunny skies are in the forecast for the Grand Junction Arts Center... At least that's what Arts Center officials are hoping for, now that a new solar electric system is in place on the roof of the building.

Is peer review really the answer to the Arts Council's problems?
Alan Davey has come to Arts Council England as chief executive with some nice big ideas to help the quango work better. One of them is to re-introduce peer review as a way of judging the success of arts organisations. The idea is to bring the artist back into the centre of the decision-making process, to offset the criticism that in the past judgments have too often been made by office-bound ...

Nonprofit groups may apply for arts grants
The Ventura County Community Foundation is accepting proposals for grants to local nonprofit arts organizations. The two-year grants cycle will distribute more than $90,000 through the foundation to the nonprofits.

Ceramic artists exhibit work at Mesa arts festival Saturday
Ceramic artist Charles M. Hilton joins dozens of his peers as they exhibit and sell their works at the Mesa Arts and Culture Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in downtown Mesa. Hilton began using clay in his work about 10 years ago when he created some mosaics for the bottom of a swimming pool.

Opportunities in the Arts Jan. 11
ART GREENWICH ART SOCIETY Winter Art Courses Includes Botanical Illustration, The Artful Audience: Ten Movies Everyone Should See, Parent/Child Monoprint Class, Portfolio Development for High School Students, Felting Workshop, Watercolor Workshop, Sculpture, Creative Writing II for Visual Arts and classes for advanced students.

Arts Council urging people to vote for city as top art destination
The Springfield Regional Arts Council is urging people to vote for Springfield as a Top Arts Destinations by AmericanStyle magazine.

A new frontier for Pa. Academy of Fine Arts
A lofty goal moved within reach of aspiring South Jersey artists yesterday as the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts agreed to accept Camden County College credits - the first transfer agreement in academy's 204-year history.

Arts Council looks forward to Oddfellows and acts
THE Macleay Valley Arts Council is looking forward to a successful 2009, when the former Oddfellows Hall will open for full-time use.